The Night Sister

People who bought this also bought...

The Invited

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Amanda Carlin,
Justine Eyre

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
605

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
563

Story

4 out of 5 stars
562

In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on 44 acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago.

3 out of 5 stars

OK story so far - but I cannot take the narrator

By
Ole Andreasen
on
05-05-19

The Winter People

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Cassandra Campbell,
Kathe Mazur

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
1,853

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
1,695

Story

4 out of 5 stars
1,693

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, 19-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary....

4 out of 5 stars

Get past the narration of the first chapter

By
Brook
on
04-19-14

Burntown

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Abby Craden

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
89

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

Story

4 out of 5 stars
85

Ashford, Vermont, might look like your typical sleepy New England college town, but to the shadowy residents who live among the remains of its abandoned mills and factories, it's known as "Burntown". Eva Sandeski, known as "Necco" on the street, has been a part of this underworld for years, ever since the night her father, Miles, drowned in a flood that left her and her mother, Lily, homeless.

5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

By
lomo7678
on
05-30-17

The One I Left Behind

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Julia Whelan

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
466

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
423

Story

4 out of 5 stars
425

The summer of 1985 changes Reggie’s life. An awkward 13-year-old, she finds herself mixed up with the school outcasts. That same summer, a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there’s no body and Neptune disappears. Now, 25 years later, Reggie is a successful architect who has left her hometown and the horrific memories of that summer behind.

5 out of 5 stars

Completely Sucked Me In!!!

By
🎧 Cyndi Marie 🎧
on
01-09-13

Promise Not to Tell

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Karen White,
Kathleen McInerney,
Caitlin Davies

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
102

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
96

Story

4 out of 5 stars
97

A woman's past and present collide with unexpected results in this hauntingly beautiful debut novel set in rural Vermont. Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered–a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del–shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl" –was brutally slain.

2 out of 5 stars

very so so

By
Hannah
on
12-16-16

Don't Breathe a Word

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Lily Rains

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
251

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
212

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
217

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

3 out of 5 stars

Not her best

By
Sara
on
05-29-13

The Invited

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Amanda Carlin,
Justine Eyre

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
605

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
563

Story

4 out of 5 stars
562

In a quest for a simpler life, Helen and Nate have abandoned the comforts of suburbia to take up residence on 44 acres of rural land where they will begin the ultimate, aspirational do-it-yourself project: building the house of their dreams. When they discover that this beautiful property has a dark and violent past, Helen, a former history teacher, becomes consumed by the local legend of Hattie Breckenridge, a woman who lived and died there a century ago.

3 out of 5 stars

OK story so far - but I cannot take the narrator

By
Ole Andreasen
on
05-05-19

The Winter People

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Cassandra Campbell,
Kathe Mazur

Length: 10 hrs and 45 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
1,853

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
1,695

Story

4 out of 5 stars
1,693

West Hall, Vermont, has always been a town of strange disappearances and old legends. The most mysterious is that of Sara Harrison Shea, who, in 1908, was found dead in the field behind her house just months after the tragic death of her daughter, Gertie. Now, in present day, 19-year-old Ruthie lives in Sara's farmhouse with her mother, Alice, and her younger sister, Fawn. Alice has always insisted that they live off the grid, a decision that suddenly proves perilous when Ruthie wakes up one morning to find that Alice has vanished without a trace. Searching for clues, she is startled to find a copy of Sara Harrison Shea's diary....

4 out of 5 stars

Get past the narration of the first chapter

By
Brook
on
04-19-14

Burntown

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Abby Craden

Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
89

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
84

Story

4 out of 5 stars
85

Ashford, Vermont, might look like your typical sleepy New England college town, but to the shadowy residents who live among the remains of its abandoned mills and factories, it's known as "Burntown". Eva Sandeski, known as "Necco" on the street, has been a part of this underworld for years, ever since the night her father, Miles, drowned in a flood that left her and her mother, Lily, homeless.

5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

By
lomo7678
on
05-30-17

The One I Left Behind

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Julia Whelan

Length: 12 hrs and 1 min

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
466

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
423

Story

4 out of 5 stars
425

The summer of 1985 changes Reggie’s life. An awkward 13-year-old, she finds herself mixed up with the school outcasts. That same summer, a serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and, five days later, displays their bodies around town. Just when Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found on the steps. But after five days, there’s no body and Neptune disappears. Now, 25 years later, Reggie is a successful architect who has left her hometown and the horrific memories of that summer behind.

5 out of 5 stars

Completely Sucked Me In!!!

By
🎧 Cyndi Marie 🎧
on
01-09-13

Promise Not to Tell

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Karen White,
Kathleen McInerney,
Caitlin Davies

Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
102

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
96

Story

4 out of 5 stars
97

A woman's past and present collide with unexpected results in this hauntingly beautiful debut novel set in rural Vermont. Forty-one-year-old school nurse Kate Cypher has returned home to rural Vermont to care for her mother who's afflicted with Alzheimer's. On the night she arrives, a young girl is murdered–a horrific crime that eerily mirrors another from Kate's childhood. Three decades earlier, her dirt-poor friend Del–shunned and derided by classmates as "Potato Girl" –was brutally slain.

2 out of 5 stars

very so so

By
Hannah
on
12-16-16

Don't Breathe a Word

A Novel

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Lily Rains

Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
251

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
212

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
217

On a soft summer night in Vermont, twelve-year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen.

3 out of 5 stars

Not her best

By
Sara
on
05-29-13

Dismantled

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Elisabeth Rodgers

Length: 11 hrs and 52 mins

Unabridged

Overall

3.5 out of 5 stars
95

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
77

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
79

Henry, Tess, Winnie, and Suz banded together in college to form a group they called the Compassionate Dismantlers. Following the first rule of their manifesto - "To understand the nature of a thing, it must be taken apart" - these daring misfits spend the summer after graduation in a remote cabin in the Vermont woods committing acts of meaningful vandalism and plotting elaborate, often dangerous, pranks. But everything changes when one particularly twisted experiment ends in Suz's death and the others decide to cover it up.

5 out of 5 stars

Best One Yet

By
Hannah
on
12-17-16

Hannah-Beast

Dark Corners Collection, Book 1

By:
Jennifer McMahon

Narrated by:
Amy Landon

Length: 1 hr and 23 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
688

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
606

Story

4 out of 5 stars
602

Thirty-four years ago, on October 31, poor Hannah Talbott took part in a scavenger hunt gone violently wrong. The mean girls made sure of it. To this day, for a haunted local mother, the most unsettling Halloween costume of all is an urban legend they call Hannah-Beast. It’s a reminder of the past she can’t forget. Especially tonight when it’s come back, so close to home.

4 out of 5 stars

Excellent story !

By
Anissa B.
on
09-28-18

Black Acres

The Complete Collection

By:
Ambrose Ibsen

Narrated by:
Joe Hempel

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
612

Performance

4 out of 5 stars
567

Story

3.5 out of 5 stars
566

There's no place like home.... Kim and Julian Taylor are in the market for their first home, and a visit to the secluded Beacon estate finds them enamored. It's a peculiar home, rather large and in need of some renovations. The price is right, however, and after a tour, they snap the house up without hesitation. The man who sells them the house has one last detail to share before they sign on the dotted line. The previous owners of the home disappeared under mysterious circumstances nearly eight years ago and have recently been declared dead in absentia.

3 out of 5 stars

Black Acres

By
latasha
on
04-25-19

The Sun Down Motel

By:
Simone St. James

Narrated by:
Brittany Pressley,
Kirsten Potter

Length: 11 hrs

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,148

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,029

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
1,021

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary. Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982.

5 out of 5 stars

Loved this story!

By
Gene Boyd
on
02-19-20

No One's Home

By:
D. M. Pulley

Narrated by:
Emily Sutton-Smith

Length: 12 hrs and 8 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
306

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
271

Story

4 out of 5 stars
270

Margot and Myron Spielman move to a new town, looking for an escape from the long shadow of their past. But soon after they buy Rawlingswood, a foreclosed mansion rumored to be haunted, they realize they’re in for more of the same…or worse. After a renovation fraught with injuries and setbacks, the Spielmans move in to the century-old house, and their problems quickly escalate. The home’s beautiful facade begins to crumble around them when their teenage son uncovers disturbing details of Rawlingswood’s history - a history of murder, betrayal, and financial ruin.

5 out of 5 stars

BRILLIANTLY WRITTEN!!!!

By
shelley
on
09-02-19

Imaginary Friend

By:
Stephen Chbosky

Narrated by:
Christine Lakin

Length: 24 hrs and 32 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
2,243

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
2,116

Story

4 out of 5 stars
2,116

Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania. It's as far off the beaten track as they can get. Just one highway in, one highway out. At first, it seems like the perfect place to finally settle down. Then Christopher vanishes. For six awful days, no one can find him. Until Christopher emerges from the woods at the edge of town, unharmed but not unchanged.

5 out of 5 stars

Perfect Narration!

By
Addicted to Books
on
10-13-19

The Tale of Halcyon Crane

By:
Wendy Webb

Narrated by:
Cassandra Campbell

Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
662

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
576

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
573

Ghosts don't exist in our world of today. Life is too pragmatic, too consuming, too busy for past lives to linger on longer than their allotted time, or so Halcyon had believed, until she received a letter from a lawyer claiming that her mother, whom she had thought long dead, had actually been living in another part of the country since Halcyon's early childhood. She had only recently passed away, leaving Halcyon heir to an unexpected fortune and an estate on an isolated island in the middle of the Great Lakes.

4 out of 5 stars

Atmosphere plus

By
S
on
09-09-12

The Twisted Ones

By:
T. Kingfisher

Narrated by:
Hillary Huber

Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
508

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
469

Story

4 out of 5 stars
467

When Mouse’s dad asks her to clean out her dead grandmother's house, she says yes. After all, how bad could it be? Answer: pretty bad. Grandma was a hoarder, and her house is stuffed with useless rubbish. That would be horrific enough, but there’s more - Mouse stumbles across her step-grandfather’s journal, which at first seems to be filled with nonsensical rants...until Mouse encounters some of the terrifying things he described for herself.

5 out of 5 stars

Nothing Bad Happens to the Dog

By
Jessica's Bookshelf
on
10-08-19

The End of Temperance Dare

A Novel

By:
Wendy Webb

Narrated by:
Xe Sands

Length: 9 hrs and 22 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
517

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
465

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
468

When Eleanor Harper becomes the director of a renowned artists' retreat, she knows nothing of Cliffside Manor's dark past as a tuberculosis sanatorium, a "waiting room for death". After years of covering murder and violence as a crime reporter, Eleanor hopes that being around artists and writers in this new job will be a peaceful retreat for her as much as for them.

5 out of 5 stars

Love Wendy Webb!

By
Elle Reich
on
08-27-18

Twelve Nights at Rotter House

By:
J.W. Ocker

Narrated by:
Matt Godfrey

Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
281

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
255

Story

4 out of 5 stars
254

Felix Allsey is a travel writer with a keen eye for the paranormal, and he's carved out a unique, if only slightly lucrative, niche for himself in nonfiction; he writes travelogues of the country's most haunted places, after haunting them himself. When he convinces the owner of the infamous Rotterdam Mansion to let him stay on the premises for two weeks, he believes he's finally found the location that will bring him a best seller. Then things start going wrong: screams from upstairs, figures in the thresholds, and more than what should be in any basement.

5 out of 5 stars

Ocker had me at 'boo holes'...

By
J.G.
on
10-28-19

Some Can See

A Northern Michigan Asylum Novel

By:
J.R. Erickson

Narrated by:
Allyson Voller

Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4.5 out of 5 stars
99

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
87

Story

4.5 out of 5 stars
87

On a sunny August morning in 1935, 13-year-old Sophia Gray finds her friend Rosemary wandering in the woods. Rosemary’s yellow dress is tattered and her eyes are vacant and glassy. She beckons to Sophia, desperate to show her something. In an abandoned cabin, beneath a tattered blanket, Sophia discovers Rosemary’s body. It was not Rosemary who led her there, but Rosemary’s ghost. Twenty years later, Sophia finds herself trapped in the sprawling Northern Michigan Asylum for the Insane, in the hands of a malevolent doctor who preys on patients who exhibit paranormal abilities.

5 out of 5 stars

Give it a few chapters...it's worth it!

By
jstep
on
10-29-19

Shepherd's Warning

The Elders, Book 1

By:
Cailyn Lloyd

Narrated by:
Hillary Huber

Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins

Unabridged

Overall

4 out of 5 stars
57

Performance

4.5 out of 5 stars
48

Story

4 out of 5 stars
48

For years, the abandoned MacKenzie mansion remained hidden in rural Wisconsin. Rumors and stories of apparitions, odd noises, accidents, and strange deaths in or near the property were enough to convince the townsfolk it was haunted, and they stayed away. Lucas MacKenzie and his brother, Nate, know nothing of this when they inherit the property and decide to bring their families to Wisconsin for a major renovation project with HGTV stardom in mind. As they tear out old fixtures and open shuttered windows, the house begins to reveal secrets of a terrible past.

3 out of 5 stars

Takes patience to get thru it!

By
Joni Lee
on
05-10-20

Publisher's Summary

The latest novel from New York Times best-selling author Jennifer McMahon is an atmospheric, gripping, and suspenseful tale that probes the bond between sisters and the peril of keeping secrets.

Once the thriving attraction of rural Vermont, the Tower Motel now stands in disrepair, alive only in the memories of Amy, Piper, and Piper's kid sister, Margot. The three played there as girls until the day their games uncovered something dark and twisted in the motel's past, something that ruined their friendship forever.

Now adult, Piper and Margot have tried to forget what they found that fateful summer, but their lives are upended when Piper receives a panicked midnight call from Margot, with news of a horrific crime for which Amy stands accused. Suddenly Margot and Piper are forced to relive the time that they found the suitcase that once belonged to Silvie Slater, the aunt that Amy claimed had run away to Hollywood to live out her dream of becoming Hitchcock's next blonde-bombshell leading lady. As Margot and Piper investigate, a cleverly woven plot unfolds - revealing the story of Sylvie and Rose, two other sisters who lived at the motel during its 1950s heyday. Each believed the other to be something truly monstrous, but only one carries the secret that would haunt the generations to come.

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Don't want to spoil anything, BUT ...

Without giving too much away, I wish I had known this book was going to be more fantasy or sci-fi than mystery. Narration by Cassandra Smith was very good.(much better than her recent reading of ''Pretty Baby")

For those who want a realistic review...

I was hesitant to purchase this one because of the bad reviews. I have to guess that some people just didn't finish the book! I first heard of this author when I listened to the Winter People, which was amazing BTW.

This story was so well fleshed out, I felt as if I had lived at the motel in both the late 50's as well as the 80's! I love any story that puts me in the past and let's me experience life through the eyes of its characters. This is one of those kinds of books. It has a great mystery that will keep you guessing until the final chapters.

The mystery was so gripping that I scarcely took a break from listening. Don't let the naysayers convince you otherwise, this is an excellent book. I dare say it is even better than the Winter People because it was more relatable in some ways due to the time periods, and the suspense kept me glued to my headphones!

Spooky a bit creepy but oh so good!

This is a hard one to review because I don’t want to give anything away. This book is full of secrets and half-truths but I can’t tell you any of them without spoiling the story. Goodness this review is hard to write!

I loved the letters to Hitchcock that Silvie wrote; they added this neat historical side to this story. Especially since Rose & Silvie’s family home is an old roadside motel where mysterious things happen, “did you get the idea from me?” Silvie asks Hitchcock.

There are 3 time frames for this story 1961 with sisters Rose & Silvie, the 80’s when Rose’s daughter Amy and her best friends and sisters Piper & Margot are teens and present day there are also chapters from James the young man with a crush on Amy when they are teens but who is now married to Margot. The jumps in time were well written and I was never confused as to which time period I was listening to.

Something happens that summer though and splits these friends up, then when something terrible happens in the present it brings up memories from that summer and what went wrong between these friends. It may be the same thing that broke up Rose & Silvie’s relationship too, how can something cause generation after generation to fall apart? What is going on in this creepy old motel?

Cassandra Campbell’s narration was spot on as always, I liked how you could tell it was teen Piper & Margot speaking and when they were adults also a good job at the older Rose, also the narration of Amy’s daughter Lou was very well done. I waited for the audio version of this one and Cassandra didn’t let me down!

This would be a great October read, it has good spook factor and keeps you guessing.

Not as good as The Winter People

I had hoped for something as awesome as The Winter People. (You know, I think The Winter People ruined me.) This one had the requisite isolated Vermont setting that works so well for McMahon, but the only time I really engaged with these characters was when discoveries were being made by the teenage girls at the creepy Tower Hotel in 1989. Otherwise, I just wasn't itching to run outside with my headphones on.

Sat at the edge of my office seat the entire last 4 -5 hours!!!! Outstanding, had no idea.....

Where this was even going. If you want a great suspenseful book to read that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat from the time you turn it on till the very last sentence this is the book. It's one of those books where you think you know but then your like wait no way could she have hold did he do it, is there a such do you think the...I mean in this book anything can happen it makes you think that anyways!

Literary pop

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Not really. Not a good story.

What was most disappointing about Jennifer McMahon’s story?

Dumb story.

Have you listened to any of Cassandra Campbell’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Campbell was not the problem--she can't help it if the story's bad.

Was The Night Sister worth the listening time?

NOT REALLY

Any additional comments?

Writiing is both an art and a craft. This author has the craft down--I wouldn't say it isn't well written--but she needs to work on her art. Doesn't matter how pretty it is if the essence of the story is prreposterous.

Read at night bc its a sleeper

This book was HORRIBLE. It is so boring I litterally had too force myself to listen to it. The plot is more than silly(I don't read fantasy novels but I do love the Tradd Street books and it contains ghosts and medium so I am not stuck in the "it has to be something that can actually happen" frame when I am picking out books). It takes FOREVER to get to the reveal and by then I didn't really care but was happy I was FINALLY at the end of this dumb ass book. The only thing that made this book bearable was the narriator. Casandra Campbel is really great at what she does. If you are questioning whether to use a credit on this book... Don't unless you suffer from insomnia and want to go to sleep without the help of medication.

Great book!

I listened to this back in 2015 when it first came out. I enjoyed it then. I decided to "read" it this time on my Kindle. I did read most of it but listened to the last couple of hours. It's not as good as some of her other books but it was great all the same. Not as spooky and a little far fetched but i still enjoyed it. Highly recommended and Cassandra Campbell narrating is excellent.